For those of you that know me, this is no surprise. But to those of you that know me through my blog, you probably didn’t know this fun fact about me (unless you saw my recent guest post on NextGen MilSpouse or follow me on Twitter). But with the way the midterms election turned out and the beginning of the 2016 Presidential Campaign on us – I wanted to share. Why? Because it’s an important part of who I am and as this country moves forward, I want to share my opinions on issues, campaigns, and other political things that may come up. See, I’m a bit of a political junkie and I want to include some of that here on this blog.
So in the interest of sharing – here is this part of my story:
My parents met on election day getting out the vote for Democratic candidates. I was on the floor of the Democratic National Convention at 5 months old. I was in campaign literature by age 2. My mom ran for public office when I was in middle school. I’ve volunteered on campaigns for Democratic candidates for as long as I can remember.
I haven’t been involved as much in campaigns since college, but I still fiercely follow politics. And I make sure that I vote in every election. One of my favorite things that my husband and I do as a couple is have debates and discussions on various issues, honestly we’ve been discussing politics since our first date (the debates started a bit after that). We don’t see eye to eye on everything but will debate to try to sway the other, more than often it ends in a draw, but we each understand the other one more. But other people in our military community? No, I couldn’t open up.
I was so worried about this fact about me when we got married. I avoided talking politics or speaking up when the topic came up with my fellow military spouses because I was afraid that they wouldn’t like me because I am more liberal. I’ve been lucky to make friends with people that are open-minded and others that have similar beliefs as me. In reality, I shouldn’t have been scared to be myself, but while making new friends, well, I wanted to be liked.
But even knowing that and meeting spouses from various political leanings, I tend to be a bit quiet on politics so as not to upset anyone. But I can’t stay quiet anymore. With the craziness that has been our federal government and our state and local governments over the last few years and the upcoming Presidential election – I want to share my opinions and I can’t think of a better place than on my blog, this blog.
Yes, I’m nervous and know that we won’t always agree but this blog after all is about being more than a military spouse. And for me that means being a political junkie, that votes democratic (the majority of the time).
These posts may sway to be more opinion but will be based on facts, with plenty of links galore. I’d hope these posts would spark open, polite dialogue. I won’t tolerate name-calling or bashing in the comments.
So, what do you think? Do you want to read a few posts about politics? Let me know in the comments below!
My husband retired after serving twenty years in the Air Force. I was a registered Republican for most of my adult life but now am registered as an Independent because I’m appalled at the extremism espoused by my Republican friends and their representatives. I admire your courage to state your beliefs and I look forward to reading your blog.